Paige saw the surprise on George Riker's face, and that caught her by surprise. Did he really not think that his serial killer nephew might want to hurt him? After everything he’d done, did he really think that there was no reason Adam might want to kill him?
"You better come in," the older man said. "I've got nothing to hide."
The older man led them into the house. As they entered, the interior caught Paige by surprise. The smell of cigarettes and sweat hung in the air. It was a dingy place, with dark décor and a sense of uncleanliness that set Paige's teeth on edge.
"I want to know what you're doing here," George Riker said.
He led the way through to a lounge that was as dirty as the rest of the place. He pointed to Christopher as Paige took a seat on the cleanest piece of furniture she could find.
"I want to know what you're doing here, and I want to know how you found me."
"The information's out there, for anyone who looks for it," Christopher said. “For Adam, if he tries to find it.”
"And you think that my nephew is going to use that to come looking for me? You think he’s going to risk his freedom by coming after me, rather than running while he has the chance?"
Paige nodded. "We do. He hates you, Mr. Riker."
"You're crazy," George Riker said. Again, he had a look of surprise that Paige found hard to believe. He had to know all the reasons that Adam hated him. "My own nephew wouldn't do anything like that. Not to me. Adam's not coming here. He's never been in touch with me. You're just trying to frighten me, and I won't stand for it."
"He escaped from a secure psychiatric institution yesterday," Christopher pointed out. "Since then, he has killed already, murdering the woman who was going to be his victim when he was caught last time. He’s finishing up old business."
"That still doesn't mean that he's coming for me," George Riker said. “Why would it?”
Paige couldn't help the surprise that she felt as he said that. George Riker seemed so sure that this had nothing to do with him. "Are you sure of that?"
"I know Adam," George Riker said, and there was a depth of emotion behind those words. "Whatever he might have done, there's no way that he would do anything like that. I know my nephew."
"I don't think he shares the same feelings," Paige said. "He pointedly told us that he hated you and blamed you for everything that happened in his life."
"He said that he hated me?" George Riker asked. He looked a little taken aback by that. "I thought he blamed his father."
"He blamed you too," Paige said. "The abuse that he suffered, the way you helped your brother hurt him. He said that you were part of it all."
George Riker looked truly shocked now. Then he shook his head.
"What are you talking about? That's not what happened. That’s not even close to it."
Not what happened? That didn’t make any kind of sense. Paige had detailed descriptions of what had taken place down in the transcripts of her sessions with Adam. She had recordings of Adam telling her exactly what part George Riker had played in all of it.
"It's what he said in his sessions," Paige countered. “He said that you forced his mother out.”
"But it’s not right," the older man said. "It’s not what happened. When his mother left, the only one he should have blamed was himself, not his father. Not me."
"And why were you in the house when he got hurt?" Paige pushed. She wasn’t about to just let this go, even though it should have been Christopher’s job to ask the questions here. "You helped your brother beat him, didn't you?"
"I never did anything like that," George Riker snapped back, obviously angered by the accusation. He looked at Christopher. "Anything that you've heard, anything that my nephew said. It wasn't true. It was just more lies, more of the things that he said to get whatever he wanted."
Paige frowned. "Then why did he say these things? Why did he tell me this in the middle of his therapy sessions?"
"I never beat him," George Riker said adamantly. "I never touched him. I never did anything but try to help Adam. But he was wild, out of control. He used to hurt other kids, and he'd have the strangest look on his face. He never listened. All I ever tried to do was get him some help. I tried to get him to talk to a shrink, but he just refused, even sat there in a session and said nothing for the whole hour, just staring."
The same way that he'd refused to talk during his first session with Paige. Adam had just sat there the first time they’d met, refusing to speak, so that she’d thought that she was wasting her time. Yet for some reason, this serial killer had opened up to her. He’d seen something in her, or decided that he wanted something from her, that had made him talk.
It made Paige wonder about her own instincts at work.
"I tried everything I could for Adam," George Riker said. "I tried to help him. I even tried to get the police to help him. I thought if they intervened early, it might stop him from going further. I didn’t hurt him. He has no reason to want to kill me."
"Is there anything at all that you can remember that might have caused him to hate you?" Paige asked. There had to be something, some reason that Adam had said what he did.